Pencil



Aug." 6, 1940. E. R. WEAVER PENCIL :fired .nimh z5, 1940 2 sheets-sheet 1 ATTO R N EYS E. R. WEAVER Aug. s,l '1940.

PENCIL Filed Il'arch 25, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR Wayef l vATTORNEYS Patented Aug. 6, v1940 A UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE PENCIL Earle Roscoe Weaver; Princeville, Ill. Applicatill March 25, 1940,- Sejl'lal N0. 325,866\

" 7 Claims. (Cl. 1Z0-18) My invention relates to new and useful improvements in pencils.

An important object of xn'y invention is to provide a pencil which includes a mechanism adapted to advance or retract the eraser or the lead.

Another object of my invention ls the provision of a pencil of the above-mentioned character wherein the operating parts of the mechanism are associated with the casing. of the pencil in a manner whereby the writer may actuate the same without releasing the normal writing grip on the pencil.

Still another object of my invention is the provision of a pencil of the above-mentioned character that will greatly expedite the performance of duties which require the taking of rapid dictation, such as news or court reporting, and the like, and that will relieve all who use the same from the necessity of interrupting their -writing to further advance the lead.

Yet another` object of my invention is the provision of a pencil of the above-mentioned character that includes a novel means for ad-l vancing or retracting the eraser whereby the necessity for removing 'or disengaging parts of the pencil is eliminated.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will be apparent during the course of the following description.

In the drawings, forming a part of this specication, and wherein like numerals are employed to designate like parts throughout the same,

Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional view showing parts in section and parts in elevation, of a device embpdying my invention,

Figure 2 is a view s/imilar to Figure 1, but showing parts broken away and parts in section,

Figure 3 is atransverse sectional view taken on the line 3-3' of Figure 1, Y

Figure 4 is a perspective view of the guide tube and illustrating the manner in which the same slidably supports the lead-carrying sleeve and the lead expelling follower bar,

Figure 5 is a front elevation of my device,

Figure 6 is a longitudinal sectional view of a modified form of my invention,

Figure '7 is a longitudinal sectional view taken on the line I-l of Figure 6, and showing parts in elevation, parts broken away and parts in section,

Figure 8 is a fragmentary perspective view of the feeding guide sleeve and illustrating its association with the driven pinion embodying a part of my invention.

Figure 9 is a longitudinal sectional view, showing parts in elevation and parts broken away, of an eraser advancing and retracting mechanism constructed in accordance with my invention, and 5 Figure 10 is a transverse sectional view taken on the line III-I0 of Figure 9.

In the accompanying drawings, wherein far the purpose of illustration, is shown a preferred embodiment of my invention, the numeral I5 10 designates a tubular casing formed with reduced externally screw-,threaded annular Shanks I6 and I1 at its opposite' ends. The shank I'I threadedly receives the internally screw-threaded end I8 of the head I9 which, as clearly illustrated in l5 Figure 1, isvformed with a tapered lower end 20. Theupper portion of the head is centrally recessed, as at 2|, and the lower portion thereof is solidly constructed and formed with an axial bore 22 of a size to slidably but snugly receive a 20 pencil lead 23. The apex of the head is provided with a plurality of annularly spaced indentations 23' which extend into the lower end of the bore 22 and engage the periphery of the lead to hold the same in a selected extended position; the upper 25 end of the bore 22 is enlarged and internally screw-threaded to receive the threaded shank portion 2l of the cupular iitting 25. The lltting 25 receives and supports the lead advancing f and retracting mechanism 26, the distal end of 30 which extends substantially beyond the end I6 of the casing and into the cap 21 which screwthreadedly engages the annular shanks I6 of the casing in a manner to have a smooth peripheral union therewith.

The guide tube 28 comprises a part of the lead advancing and retracting mechanism and is provided with a longitudinal slot 29 and a screw-threaded lower end 30 lixedly received by the internal bore 3l of the tting. The feeding 40 guide sleeve 32 is mounted for rotation about the tube 28 and-extends for substantially its entire length; the lower end thereof is flxedly associated with a ratchet pinion 33 which, in turn, is supported by the inner annular shoulder 34 dened 45 by the enlarged upper portion 35 of the fitting and the upper end thereof is flxedly connected to a knurled actuating nut 35. The feeding guide may be formed in any suitable manner, as by helically forming a iiat strip of metal around the 50 tube 28 and with the convolutions thereof spaced from each other to dene a helical guide track 3'1 in the manner illustrated 1n Figure 1.

Figure 6 illustrates another form of feeding guide 38 which comprises an elongated metallic 55 short distance in a plane extending transversely of the longitudinal axis of the sleeve for a purpose presently to be described in detail. As will be readily apparent from an inspection of Figures 1 and 6, the guide track 31 in Figure 1 isA open; the protective sleeve 4| is positioned therearound in circumferentially spaced relation thereto and with the lower end thereof threadedly received by the fitting 25 in slightly spaced relation with the ratchet pinion 33 in a manner to hold the same seated against but freely rotatable on the shoulder 34. The form of guide track illustrated in Figure 6 is closed and does not require the application of a protective sleeve; the lock-nut 42 is, therefore, screw-threade'clly received by the fitting 25 in a manner to hold the ratchet pinion 33 seated against the shoulder 34.

The lead receiving sleeve 50 is slidably arranged within the guide tube 28 and is adapted to accommodate the upper end 5| of the lead within the lower portion thereof. The upper portion of the sleeve is provided with a laterally extending lug 52 which extends through the slot 28 and into the guide track 31 or 40 ofthe feeding guides 32 or 38. The follower or expelling bar 53 is slidably received by the sleeve 50 and with the lower end 54 thereof normally bearing against the upper end 5| of the lead. The upper end of the follower is formed with a laterally extending lug 55 which extends through the slot 29 and into the guide track 31 or 40 one convolution above the lug 52.

The fitting 25 is formed with an internally recessed, tangentially extending boss 43, which recess 44 opens directly against the peripheral teeth of the pinion 33. The upper portion of the head I9 is formed with an opening 45 laterally of the boss 43, whereby the pawl' element 46 may extend through the opening to be slidably accommodated by the boss and whereby the end 41 thereof extending into the recess 44 may be moved into engagement .with the teeth of the pinion. A flngerpiece 48 comprises an essentially spherically curved oval plate member which receives the pawl 46 substantially centrally-therev of. The crown portion of the plate extends beyond the periphery of the head and the peripheral edge thereof is normally seated against the portion of the inner wall of the head circumjacent the opening by the coil spring 49 interposed between the plate and the boss 43. i

In operation, the lead carrying sleeve 50 and the follower 53 may be moved axially within the guide sleeve 28 by rotating the feeding sleeve 3 2 or 38 about the guide tube. The lugs 52 and 55 of the sleeve and follower will move within the guide track 31 as the feeding sleeve is rotated and will consequently be raised or lowered within the sleeve in accordance with the direction of rotation of the feeding sleeve. Rotation of the sleeve in an anti-clockwise direction will cause` the sleeve and follower to be retracted within the sleeve and this operation is accomplished by removing the cap 21 andmanually rotating the feeding sleeve by means of the knurled nut 36.

The lead 23 may then be inserted within the guide sleeve 28 through the bore 22 in the head and into the lower portion of the lead carrying sleeve 50. As illustrated in Figure 3, the feeding sleeve may be rotated in a clockwise direction by manually pressing the fngerpiece 4B in a mannerto move th'e end 41 of the pawl into engagement with the teeth of the ratchet pinion 33. The above operation will impart a. step by step rotation to the sleeve in a manner to axially move the lead carrying sleeve lead 38.

` When the lug 52 of the lead carrying sleeve has reached the lower terminus of fthe guide track, it will be moved in aplane transversely of the longitudinal axis of the pencil for a limited distance. During such transverse movement, the lug 55 of the follower bar will be further advanced within the lead carrying sleeve in a manner to eject the remaining fragment of lead carried by the sleeve.

The hereinabove described arrangement particularly adapts itself toa penciLconstruction permitting the taking of rapid dictation in that the lead may be advanced without necessitating the writer releasing his normal writing grip. The

fingerpiece 48 is positioned in a-manner to be normally readily accessible to the index finger of the writer, whereby he may actuate the pawl by moving the linger a slight distance laterally of the normal writing position and into engagement therewith. The operation may be performed with the writing hand and make it unnecessary for the writer `to raise the pencil from the paper and actuate remote portions of the pencil in order that the lead may be advanced.

Figures 9 and 10 illustrate a modification of the cap 21 in that a mechanism 51 is incorporated therewith to advance or retract an eraser 58. In order that the eraser advancing and retracting mechanism may be incorporated within the structure hereinbefore described, the upper end of the casing I5 is made to extend substantially the entire length of the lead advancing and retracting mechanism 28, and the cap 21 is threadand to advance the" edly associated therewith in the manner hereinmechanism except that the unit is of substantially lesser length and the feeding sleeve 38 is made to assume a substantially greater pitch. The eraser receiving sleeve is of substantially greater diameter in order to accommodate the relatively larger eraser 58 and the other constituent parts are relatively enlarged in direct proportion therewith.

The ratchet pinion 33 is xedly associated with the feeding sleeve 38 and the Wall of the cap is provided with a pair of diametrically opposed openings 59 and 60 arranged laterally of the pinion. An arcuate bar 6| is secured to the inner periphery of the cap intermediate of the openings 59 and 60 by the screwsi62, or the like, and the extending ends thereof are bent inwardly between the openings and the ratchet pinion whereby the enlarged portions 63 and 64 may slidably support the pawl elements 65 and 66. The outer endsl of the pawls carry ngerpieces 61 and 88, which fingerpieces are associated with the wall of the cap in the manner described for the association of the iingerpiece 48 with the hol'd the pawls disengaged from the pinion I3. Actuation of the ngerpiecev 61 will rotate the pinion 33 in a clockwise direction to advance vthe eraser 58 and advancement' of the eraser will open the panel 1I hingedly closing the end of the cap ,and normally held in a closed position by the springs 12. When it is desired to retract the eraser within the cap, the fngerpiece 68 may be yactuated to rotate the pinion in an anticlockwise direction and, as the eraser isretracted within the cap, the spring 12 will effect the closure of the end panel 1l,

It is to be understood that the form of my invention, herewith shown and described, is to be taken as a preferred example of the same, and that various changes in the size, shape and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit ofmy invention, or4

scope of the appendedclaims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

opening in the wall thereof and adjacent the writing end of the pencil, a lead "advancing and retracting mechanism rotatably mounted within said casing, said mechanism being rendered operative by rotation thereof, and an actuator means for imparting rotation to the mechanism, parts of said actuator means being arranged adjacent the opening` in the casing wall for manual actuation, whereby the said actuator may be rendered roperative by the ngers of the writer and without releasing the normal writing grip on the said pencil. w

3. A pencil comprising a casing having an opening in the wall thereof adjacent the writing end of the pencil, a lead advancing and retracting mechanism rotatably mounted within said casing, gear means iixedly carried by the mechanism adjacent the opening in the casing wall, a pawl extending through the opening andengageable with the'said gear means, and a nngerpiece carried by the outer end of the pawl, said ngerpiece having a peripheral engagement with the inner wall of the casing circumjacent the opening, whereby the pawl may be manually moved into engagement with the gear means to impart a step by step rotation thereto andwithout releasing the normal writing grip on `the pencil.

4. A pencil comprising a casing having an opening in the wall thereof adjacent the writing end of the pencil, a lead advancing and retracting mechanism rotatably mounted within said casing, gear means fixedly carried by the mechanism adjacent the opening in the casing Wall, a pawl extending through the opening and engageable with the said gear means, a iingerpiece carried by the outer end of the pawl, said ngerpiece'normally having aperipheral engagement with the innerl wall of the casing circumjacent the open-- ing, and resilient means normally holdingf the pawl disengaged from the gear means whereby the pawl may be manually moved into engagement with the gear means against the action oi thesaid resilient means to impart a step by step rotation theretoland without releasing the normal writing grip on the pencil.

5. A pencil 'comprising a casing having a tapered working end, an axial bore and a side opening adjacent the said working end, a longitudinally slotted tube flxedly mounted axially of the casing, a helical guide mounted for rotation about the tube, gear means rotatably carried by the tube and xedly secured to the said guide, a lead receiving sleeve axially movable within said tube and having a lugextending laterally through the slot and received by the said guide, a follower received by the upper end of the sleeve and having a lug extending laterally through the slot and received by the guide, a pawl extending throughl the side opening of the casing and engageable with the gear means, and spring means normally holding the pawl out of engagement with the said gear means, whereby the pawl may be :manually moved into engagement with the gearmeans to impart a step by step rotation thereto and without releasing the normal writing grip on the pencil. l

6. In a pencil including a tubular casing, a lead advancing and retracting mechanism associated with the casing comprising a slotted tube iixedly arranged within tha casing and in register with the lead discharge bore of the casing; a vhelical guide mounted for rotation about said tube, a portion of the lower convolution of the guide being arranged in a plane extending transversely of the axis of the guide; a lead receiving sleeve axially movable within said tube and having a i lug extending laterally through. the slot and received by. a portion of the guide; a follower -received by the sleeve and normally engaging the lead contained thereby, said follower having a lug extending laterally through the slot and received by another portion ofthe guide; and means to rotate the-said guide to simultaneously move the sleeve and follower within the tube, whereby continuedrotation of the guide after engagement of the sleeve lug with the mentioned transverse portion of the guide will effect movement of the follower axially within the sleeve to ,eject the lead contained thereby.

'1. In a pencil, the combination with a casing of a tubular capv having one end adapted to be detachably connected to the casing;- a longitudinally slotted tube tlxedly mounted axially within said cap; a helical guide mounted for rotation about said tube; a tubular sleeve axially slidable within said tube and having a lug extending laterally through the slot and received by the guide: a follower arranged axially of and received by the sleeve and having a lug extending laterally through the slot and received by the guide; gear means carried by the said guide; a pair of pawl elements extendingthrough openings in the cap and arranged to engage the gear means in a manner to differentially rotate the same; land spring means normally holding the pawls out of engagement with the gear means, whereby one of. the said pawl elements may be manually actuated to rotate the gear means in one direction and the other of the said pawl elements may be manually 

